The U.S. government interferes with the market for foreign laborers by restricting the number and
mix of immigrants and setting tight quantitative limits on foreign-born guest workers. This has created
a mismatch between the demand for foreign workers from U.S. businesses and their supply, directly
leading to the illegal immigration situation we confront today. The current system inefficiently limits
the gains that our economy could achieve from employing larger numbers of foreign workers, and it
disproportionately harms small U.S. businesses. The economic fears associated with increased guest
workers or immigrants are unfounded. The current Senate immigration reform proposal would be a
marginal improvement but does not go far enough. Red Card, an alternative guest worker proposal,
would better coordinate labor markets. Ultimately, an immigration market free from government limitations
and interference would be the most efficient solution.

Zachary Gochenour is a Research Fellow at the Independent Institute and a Fellow in the Department of Economics at George Mason University. His articles have been published in such scholarly journals as The Independent Review and The Review of Austrian Economics, and his popular articles have appeared in the Economic Bulletin (American Institute for Economic Research), Reason, and The Conference Board Report.